Site Search:

The Latter Days

Many prophets in the Old Testament spoke of the “latter
days,” foretelling events that were to come far into the future as they rebuked
Israel for falling into idolatry. And as
the prophets spoke in symbol, it is very easy to apply their prophecies to
current events – any current event – that hold a grip of fear on the
people. God was proclaiming His coming
judgment on Israel for abandoning the Old Covenant, and that judgment was death
unless a Savior came to redeem them from their sin. And while the signs of the times seem to be
pointing to the “Last Days” as described in the Old Testament, we find that the
“latter days” spoken by the prophets are not what we would call the “End of Days.” In fact, the “latter days” that were
prophesied proclaim a much, much different time and place.

I was amazed as the missionaries from our new church
returned from overseas, describing each and every person that they shared the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was
awe-inspiring to hear stories of those in other nations who had never heard of
Christ, and those who never knew that a Savior died for their sins on the
cross. Some even thought that they knew
Jesus, but to them, Christ was just another god that they worshipped along with
Mohammed, Buddha, or some other prophet, taking the approach that belief in
their mixture of prophets was required to know “god.” The different version of god that they
believed was not the One True God that told us not to worship other gods, and
the version of Jesus that they believed was not the Son of God that would
change a heart to desire to leave those other gods.

I thought about the many in other parts of the world that
are in this condition; those that think they have accepted Christ, but simply
placed Him on a shelf with several other gods.
Many have taken the Charismatic-style over-spiritualization of any
blessing that God has given us, and mistake our God for nothing more than a god
of blessing. This god of blessing, they
believe, can bring them healing, or change their paths in life if they pray in
his name – but it is simply one in a line of many other gods that have been
misrepresented in the same way. To them,
Christ is just another way to heal the body without medicine, or a way to make
rain fall for the withering crops.

In many ways, the Divine Healing movement is responsible for
this. The Voice of Healing magazine
depicts hundreds of men and their supernatural stories with full intentions of
bringing amazement. These men travelled
around the world, spreading the “gospel of healing” to the crowds, and the
natives of each country were fully accepting as the movement started. We find several ministers, preaching
hand-in-hand in the cities throughout South America, South Africa, India, and
more, each fully supporting each other as their movement seemed to be blessed.

But when the movement started to fizzle, it seemed as though
the crowds were only interested in the ministers who could bring the most
amazement. Men who once preached
together in unity began to find ways to spiritualize more and more stories, and
tried to squeeze blessings from the Hand of God where there was no blessing to
be found. As the natives realized that
these “blessings” in the form of “healing” began to fade, and because they were
looking for a “god of healing,” they turned to other gods for support. They never knew the real Jesus Christ, and
the Gospel of Jesus Christ was never taught.
Instead, a different “gospel” was spread, one that was focused on
healing of the body rather than Christ’s words that these mortal bodies are
fading for a new body that will never fade.

William Branham’s gospel was aligned with this movement, and
specifically aligned with the scriptures from the Old Testament that are
describing the “latter days.” Often,
Branham would describe salvation as being “healed,” and take scriptures of the
Old Testament prophets to apply the “latter days” to his own ministry. In fact, Branham taught that “salvation” and
“healing” were one and the same:

Now, the same word in the Bible, translated, s-a-v-e-d, and
healed, is the very same word all the way through the Scriptures. Anyone knows
that. Now, well, when you're--you're saved, spiritually, or you're saved
physically... now, He said to the woman, "Thy faith has saved thee,"
physically, saved you. Now, it's in the redemption; it's in the atonement; it's
in the plan of God. You can be spiritually saved or physically saved, because
He was wounded for our transgressions, with His stripes we're healed." Is
that right? So it's just according to your faith.

Now, in His loving mercy, after ministers, through the years,
has passed through the land and preached this wonderful Word, thousands of
people has been blessed, and saved, and healed, and so forth. Then, in His
sovereign mercy in the last days, as He promised, when the last days, I will
pour out My Spirit."

51-0718
THE.ANGEL.OF.THE.LORD

This, of course, was describing the prophecy of Joel found
in chapter 2, which Peter proclaimed was fulfilled on the Day of
Pentecost. But William Branham pointed
Joel’s prophecy to his own ministry, using the phrase “the last days” out of
context to apply to the “End of Days.”
Those listening for these awe-inspiring stories, watching the many
confessing their healing, began to associate “healing” with “salvation,” in
their minds. Since many were healed,
they mistakenly thought many were also saved.

But as I sat and listened to the missionaries returning from
overseas, I realized that there was a vast difference in spreading the Gospel
of Jesus Christ and spreading the gospel of divine healing. While the divine healers told their listeners
that God would heal their bodies (save them) if they believed in the name of
Jesus Christ, missionaries of the real Gospel of Jesus Christ spread the good
news that these earthly bodies mean nothing.
The work that Christ did on the cross was far greater than anything this
world has to offer. God may send
blessing to heal their bodies, but then again, God may have much more in store
for them. God may even be using their
dire situation to lead just one more soul into His Body – and these
missionaries may be sent so that the real gospel can be spread even further!

It is interesting when you study the scriptures concerning
the “latter days,” because while the verses have been twisted and refocused to
the Divine Healing movement, their first mention in the scriptures is in a very
similar situation. Balaam, who William Branham
taught had the “same anointing as Moses,” was a sorcerer who practiced
divination – a sin punishable by death under the Mosaic Law. In fact, Balaam was one of the most powerful
sorcerers in the land, travelling hundreds of miles at the request of the evil
Balak to place a curse on the Children of Israel. The god that Balaam served was not the same
god that forbade Israel from cursing, from divination, and from all forms of
evil. Yet, Balaam came forth with a god
that had the same name as the One True God.

But in Balaam’s last oracle, and while attempting to curse
Israel, God turned his prophecy of a curse into a prophecy of blessing – the
greatest blessing that the world would ever know. This blessing, according to the Word from the
Lord, was to come in the “latter days.”

And now, behold,
I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to
your people in the latter days.” And he took up his discourse and said, “The
oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the
Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes
uncovered: I see him, but not now; I
behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall
rise out of Israel;

Numbers
24:14-17

This prophecy, the very first in the Bible describing the
Christ Child, came from Balaam. And the
prophecy was pointing to the “latter days,” which was a vague and distant
future for the Children of Israel. While
the “last days” described in the New Testament point to the “End of Days,” all
scriptures of the Old Testament describing the “latter days” point to the day
when the prophets come to an end and the Son of God rises into authority.

In Micah 3, the Word of the Lord came through Micah to
describe the “latter days,” and condemned even the prophets of Israel:

Thus says the
Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when
they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into
their mouths. Therefore it shall be
night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and
the day shall be black over them

Micah 3:5-6

And without taking the entire prophecy in context, snipping
this single section out of the Bible, one would falsely believe that God was
speaking only to the prophets of that current time in Israel. But remember the words of Christ in the book
of Luke:

“The Law and the Prophets were until John;
since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces
his way into it.

Luke 16:16

Even when we continue reading the prophecy of Micah, the
focus is pointed to Christ – not to the Divine Healing movement:

It shall come
to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above
the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that
we may walk in his paths.”

Micah 4:1-2

There is no greater Teacher than Christ, and no greater
teacher will rise in human flesh since the day that Christ ascended to the throne. Once Christ ascended, He sent His Holy Spirit
to judge the world – that same judgment that the Old Testament Prophets
foretold. Remember, that same Holy
Spirit that was sent to lead us and guide us was also sent to judge sin:

“I did not say
these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and
none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth:
it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper
will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do
not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and
you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world
is judged.

John 16:4-11

Even Moses spoke concerning the “latter days,” and described
the very situation that brought an end to the prophets. Israel was punished for their idolatry,
Jerusalem invaded and scattered. While
the temple lay in ruin, and Ezekiel, Daniel and many other Jews were taken
captive by Babylon, the rest were scattered to the four winds. Zechariah’s prophecy after captivity was a
call to gather them back together. Moses
declared that if they abandoned the Law, this would happen – they would be so
scattered that they were only a few in number among the nations. He said that in the “latter days,” they would
be restored:

And the Lord
will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among
the nations where the Lord will drive you.
And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human
hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your
God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with
all your soul. When you are in
tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will
return to the Lord your God and obey his voice.
For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or
destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

Deuteronomy
4:27-30

And Isaiah, speaking directly from God, spoke the same words
that came to Micah – almost word-for-word:

It shall come
to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be
established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the
hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and
say:

“Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he
may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

Isaiah 2:2-3

Jeremiah also proclaimed the Christ that would come in the
“latter days.” But before they saw this
day fulfilled, God would execute his judgment against their idolatry. Only in the “latter days,” when the Prince
comes, would Israel understand this:

Their prince
shall be one of themselves; their ruler shall come out from their midst; I will
make him draw near, and he shall approach me, for who would dare of himself to
approach me? declares the Lord. And you shall be my people, and I will be
your God.” Behold the storm of the
Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling
tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn
back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.

Jeremiah
30:21-24

While it may seem harmless to point these scriptures into
the future and the return of Christ, any twisting of scripture alters the
context of other passages. To call the
“divine healing” movement the “latter days,” or the “latter rain,” one must
also point the scriptures of a coming Redeemer to those days, taking the
restoration of Israel by the Christ and applying it to a man. I truly believe that this twisting of
scripture is the reason we see so many cult leaders rise in the name of
Christianity.

The god they serve may have the same name as the God that we
serve, but their “christ” is not the same Christ that died on the cross to
redeem us from the Law and lift us into the shelter of Grace. Their god is a different god, one that
requires a human for salvation. Faith in
their god also means faith in their leader, making their leader an interceder
between God and man.

To any trapped in one of these cults that have risen from
this movement, the words of Paul to Timothy should help to give you strength
and courage:

First of all,
then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be
made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may
lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight
of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who
gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper
time. For this I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of
the Gentiles in faith and truth.